Welcome to the future’s house, off-grid with its own energy and food production – one of the world’s most environmentally friendly and sustainable houses.
Welcome to the future’s house, off-grid with its own energy and food production – one of the world’s most environmentally friendly and sustainable houses.
The Ranthambhore Bagh homestay is located next to Ranthambhore National Park, one of India’s leading wildlife regions. It’s a special place to stay. Lush green sustainable gardens are filled with local plants, trees, fruits and vegetables which are used in the daily fresh menus. it is the product of Poonam Singh and Aditya Dicky Singh’s twenty-year vision of a sustainable and ecologically aware way of living.
Housing just five guest cottages, the contemporary architecture was built by the Architecture Studio Matharoo. It utilises natural and local materials and building knowledge. The colours in the natural stone are one and the same hues reflected in the views of the Rajasthan Aravali Hills. Water comes from the bore and solar is used on the site. The philosophy of slow-living and local planting has encouraged wildlife back to the gardens and the water-table has risen.
In Rajasthan, on the outskirts of the Ranthambhore National Park, two conservationists build a home like no other
If home is where the heart is, then Aditya and Poonam Singh’s sits in the shadow of the Aravallis in Rajasthan, a living, breathing part of the ecosystem
BY DIVYA MISHRA
22 September 2022
An article about our home in Condé Nast Traveller
Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.
Sustainability
At the Bagh, sustainability is at the very heart of what we do, but what does this mean. For us it is ensuring that we tread lightly on the earth and that our legacy for future generations is a living planet that is able to maintain itself. This ethos has always been our practice and the beauty of this approach is that it slows us down and helps us to understand the locality of this very special place that we live in.
We believe that sustainable living means luxury. Food grown in our garden is picked the same day and provides the basis of the sublime dishes that our chefs make. We feel at peace knowing that every time the a/c is switched on that the electricity has come from the solar panels on the roof, harnessing the natural power of the sun. Our contemporary home, built by conservation-led architects, uses local stone and is designed to work with the environment it is in. We reap the benefits of our living architecture through the cool shade and gentle through-breezes in the summer and the warmth the sunshine brings into the space in the winter.
Twenty-five years ago we bought a piece of land near the Ranthambhore National Park and over time we have left it to re-wild. The trees and plants have regrown in abundance and have taught us valuable lessons that we have carried forward to the gardens at The Bagh. Every tree and plant that we have put in is indigenous to the area. The result is a thriving microcosm where we enjoy an abundance of wildlife. Considered planting has resulted in the water table rising.
Nothing is wasted at the Bagh and everything from a nail to a piece of string has a future use. Over the years Poonam has become adept at adapting, so bits of surplus fabric become stylish necklaces, woven bins become cool lampshades and cow bells become light pulls.
We invite guests to come and simply relax, visit the National park with our expertise or take a round of the gardens to learn about companion planting but most of all we want you to feel like our special place is home-from-home and the place of your dreams. This is the power of sustainable living.